Saturday 14/04
By Florence:
This morning we had breakfast with fruits as usual. Then we did 2 sessions of work and then we ate a salad. When we were done that we went to the market but unfortunately while going there Ludivine tripped and fell onto her knee so it was hard for her to walk. We still went to the market with her. We bought fruits and then we went back home to put all the fruits in the house and to drop off Ludivine. We left the house and we did a little walk to go onto a hill. We didn’t go up because the waiting line for the funicular was 30 minutes. So we decided to go do a small walk. After the walk we went to go get ice cream and it was delicious. When we finished our ice cream, we went home and prepared and aperitif because Marielle was coming. When she came dad had just came home from getting us Macdonald. Then the adults left and we went to sleep. Bye.
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By me:
Kids do only one homeschooling session today. We eat a salad at home before going for a walk to Barrio Bellavista.
The weather is nice. Full blue sky.
Unfortunately, Ludivine rapidly fell heavily. Her chest and knee hurt. We bring her back to the apartment.
We pass by the Mercado Central, specialized in fish and crustaceans. We then continue to Cerro San Cristobal, walking through Barrio Patronato and Barrio Bellavista. It’s Saturday; there are a lot of people in the streets.
We go back to ‘Emporio La Rosa’ ice cream, where we take the same tastes (chocolate for me and raspberry / mint for Florence and Isabelle). Strangely enough, Jules doesn’t take an ice cream; he prefers to watch the clown who is making fun at the passerby and at the car drivers.
We walk back home. We play at ‘Loup Garou’.
Around 7pm, I go and take away a McDonald’s for the kids. I think it’s the first one in Chile. We usually do 1 or 2 McDonald’s in each country, not more. It’s nice to see the local “specialties” they have. Here we discover a McNifica (with ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise!). They also have a signature “line” of hamburgers with blue cheese and bacon…
Tonight, Isabelle and I go and eat outside, with Marielle, a friend of mine who happens to be in Santiago at the same time as us. She comes home for an aperitif and we then take a taxi to the ‘El Ancla’ restaurant, in Providencia, where we eat good fish, ceviche and something new for us: ‘macha parmesana’, saltwater clams baked in the oven with parmesan cheese (as a top crust); very nice.
We spend a good evening. Thanks Marielle for the Côte d’Or presents, directly from Belgium!
We’re back at midnight.
Sunday 15/04
Vlog by Isabelle: see below.
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By me:
Kids woke up quite early (before the sunset, which is still rather late, a bit after 8am). We eat a great breakfast with lots of fruits and also toasts with Côte d’Or chocolate paste.
We go with Ludivine to visit markets this morning (Florence and Jules stay at home). On our way to La Vega Central market, there’s already quite a lot of animation on the streets. Street vendors abound; they flee rapidly when cops show up (and come back as quickly as soon as the cops leave).
We spend some time in La Vega Central market. It’s Santiago’s main market; it is located at the far south of Barrio Recoleta. A wide variety of products are sold in its surrounds, principally fresh fruit and vegetables (but also meat and fish of course and many other items). It’s market as I like them (and Ludivine and Isabelle enjoy also): bustling, noisy, colourful and crowded, especially on this Sunday morning. La Vega is, in a word, chaotic, but wonderfully local. We buy raspberries, strawberries and mulberries.
On our way back, we stop at Mercado Central, where we buy salmon.
We also buy other fruits and vegetables on the street before going back home.
We arrive at the apartment around 12:30pm. We prepare a nice salad (as well as a red fruit salad for tonight); Isabelle prepares the salmon in a lemon marinade, and quinoa.
Kids don’t have homeschooling today; it’s a day off. They play on their devices. I like when they play games that they can play together, in a multiplayers mode.
I work a bit while Isabelle goes to the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino. I “work” on my laptop. I try to find a movie that I could go and watch at a movie theatre with the kids. I also manage to buy tickets for the football game ‘Universitad de Chile vs. Cruzeiro’ (a team from Brazil) on Thursday evening. It’s unfortunately late (9:30pm) for the kids so I only buy tickets for Isabelle and I. I’m curious to experience the fanaticism in a South American football stadium. It’s an important game since it is for the Copa Libertadores, the most prestigious club competition in South American football (the equivalent of the Champions League in Europe). I’m happy (it helps me to forget about the disappointment not to have been able to get tickets for the today’s Clasico).
Around 5pm we go and join Isabelle on the Plaza de Armas. There are a lot of people and it’s animated; there is always a small ‘show’ somewhere around. We walk towards Cerro Santa Lucia where trails and steep stone stairs lead us through terraces to the Torre Mirador at the top, from where we have a nice view of this city, which is not really beautiful, to say the least.
Around 7pm we stop in Barrio Bellavista to eat some tapas in a small restaurant in the busy Barrio Bellas Artes. We have a nice dinner, on the terrace (on the sidewalk of Calle Monjitas). But when we want to pay, none of our credit cards (we had 3 with us) work. I go to a nearby ATM but it doesn’t work either. I fortunately have some Euro and USD notes that I use to pay.
We go back home where we eat the nice (and big) red fruit salad as desert and we play a couple of ‘Loup Garou’ games.
Kids read till 9:30pm. Isabelle goes quickly to bed because she doesn’t feel well. I work till 1am.